I have been competing in the senior (40-49) BB weapons division and need some advice. I do both bo staff and three section staff which are two completely different weapons styles. The present forms for each weapon are on video at both the Google video and YouTube video websites. Just do a search with 'clint bo staff' and 'clint three section staff' which will access these videos. Since my senior weapons divisions are mixed styles, I can and have done both weapons in competition with no clear cut answer on which is better. I would like to get some constructive comments on my weapons forms if possible;

1) which form is better, i.e., which would you score higher in competition?2) as I am a senior competitor, I will not be able to do any extreme techniques so what else can I work on to improve these forms based on the video footage?

Pending the competition I'd score the Bo Kata a 8.9 - 9.0 out of a possible 10, I'd like to see more footwork escaping weapon attack on your legs like a crane stance with combo Bo on the ground posture and maybe some low kick after a high attack or the opposite also more range against Chineses styles forms. Against Karate style Bo forms 8.9-9.0 it might take 1st place, though I've seen some pretty nice non Extreme classic Karate Bo forms that were 9.8 (say the World Class events) that varied the techniques nicely and right on Precision. With me in a Karate Bo form, I'm looking for floor Format/footwork Precision and variety (they are shorter usually), In a Chinese Bo form, I'm looking for floor Format/footwork, Variety, Range and Precision.

Mr. Leung Your Bo form may be 1st place in a regional but not in a Worlds or Tr-State event. JMO with the above fixes just maybe.

Your Tri-section form has several things going for it. Its rarely seen here in the SW (Chinese forms are usually swords, spears, Bo or whip dart chains) and it has more variety in it. I'd like to see more range with your footwork and a stronger punch in the end. To me because of the above stated, I like your Tri-section above your Bo form, but with the fixes requested above the Bo could score just as good. The Tri-section I'd score a 9.4 or 5 nice weapon movement a little more footwork range and it is a 1st place Kata. Great work.

Both forms are pretty good. Stances are a bit high but that may be typical of your style. Your performance is pretty much on par with those in tournaments I've attended so I think you'd have a good chance of always placing first to third places. You may want to practice both and bring both weapons because in the event of a tie some tournaments require you to do a different form as a tie breaker. Keep practicing and build up the tournament experience and things will go your way.

Personally I would score the bo kata higher, simply because the techniques look much sharper and more controlled. Having said that, I understand that the three section staff is much harder to control, and by its nature, will look less sharp.

My biggest issue is with your foot work. In all honesty, it is slow, sloppy and undefined. When I am judging weapons kata, I look for attention to detail in technique beyond that of the weapon itself. Kicks, stances, footwork in general. So many people are SO caught up in the detail of the use of the weapon itself that they tend to forget the fact that the weapon is only part of the kata.

Out of a ten, I would have scored the bo about a 7 and the three section staff a 6 or maybe 6.5.

G

_________________________
Nothing imperfect is the measure of anything!

Clint,please don't think this is personal, but I'm old school, and I don't have much respect for "twirl" sticks. If that bo was a good, heavy, redwood or white oak bo, I'd think it was amazing if you could get it moving like that... but most of the twirling isn't a martial arts move. I know the competitions now are rift with that kind of junk MA, but being old school, I'd like to see power and focus on the strikes, rather than spinning it like a weedeater and hoping something walks into it. Majorettes do that kind of twirling at every football game.

The three-section staff kata looked more like kata than the bo, but there were several hesitations in it that looked either uncertain or out of place. You handled the weapon well, but the footwork looked a little like you were trying to get out of the way of the weapon rather than leading it to your attack... which is the point of using a weapon.

One of the hardest things I had to learn in MA with weapons was how to "keep moving forward" as I was retreating... which means keep the attack toward the opponent (real or imagined) rather than pulling the weapon to the rear or moving to avoid it.

As competetive atmospheres change from place to place, you'll probably find some places where you're the big fish in the small pond and some where you're the small fish in the big pond... pay attention to what the competitors are doing wherever you plan to compete and follow their lead as to whether you need to be doing the "real" or the "twirling" kind of stick arts.

One of my buddies used to have to wear a flak jacket when he did bo kata because he snapped the bo so hard, and it constantly hit him in the ribs. He got mad at me when I told him the object of the exercise was to hit "the other guy" with it, and his "showoff power" of breaking bows against his body were really just bad technique. Once he learned how to focus them on the "opponent", and not try to impress the judges, he won international competitions for several years.

His method was to train with heavy weapons, and then use "regular weight" weapons in competition... and all his movements were directed at fighting rather than simply twirling the weapon... and you might need to decide whether your competition will be in "tournaments" or "traditional tournaments", because there are substantial differences in what they're looking for. Finding the middle ground will only make you mediocre in both camps, so pick a path and train for that particular kind of competitions.

Just my .02 worth...

_________________________
What man is a man that does not make the world a better place?... from "Kingdom of Heaven"

I'm no expert but I like the bo kata better. It's impressive what you do with those weapons. But your footwork looks weak, your lower body looks heavy, slow and out of balance. Maybe you actually do have complete control of your footwork and balance, but it doesn't look like it. And, a bit more focus on the strikes would also improve the performance.